Designing for diversity

LinguaBytes, a three-year research project aimed at the development of an adaptive interactive toy for stimulating language and communication skills of multi-handicapped toddlers, wants to establish a theoretical framework, including guidelines and tools, for designing complex interactive products.

Abstract

Interactive products can help very young multi-handicapped children (1-4 years) develop their language and communication skills, under the condition that they are optimally tuned to the individual child. This has great consequences for design, since this kind of interactive products need to be adaptive to the child's development, possibilities, interests and needs. There are currently hardly any guidelines for designing adaptive interactive tangible products for such a heterogeneous user group. Through LinguaBytes, a three-year research project aimed at the development of an adaptive interactive toy for stimulating language and communication skills of multi-handicapped toddlers, we want to establish a theoretical framework, including guidelines and tools, for designing complex interactive products.